Max von Laue

Laue, Max von (mäks fən louˈə) [key], 1879–1960, German physicist, studied under Max Planck. From 1919 he was professor of theoretical physics at the Univ. of Berlin. He worked out a method for measuring X-ray wavelengths, in which a crystal (rock salt) is used, producing diffraction of the rays. For this work, which also made possible a closer study of crystal structure, he received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physics.